Much has been made of the projected number of car trips per day under the existing general plan versus the new plan, but the performance of streets and intersections probably means more to residents, said City Councilman Steve Rosansky, a Measure V supporter.
"The trips really are meaningless. It's how fast can I get from point A to point B," he said.
The city grades intersections with letters — A through F — for how quickly traffic moves through them. Assistant City Manager Sharon Wood said A intersections are "absolutely free-flowing," while at level D a driver might have to wait two light cycles to get through the intersection, but not all the time.
"When you're at F, you might be looking at the third green" before getting through the intersection, she said.
If everything allowed by the existing general plan were built, city officials say, at least 18 major intersections would perform at one of the two worst service levels.
Under the new plan, only two intersections would be at levels E or F. Those two are on East Coast Highway in Corona del Mar, where residents have said they don't want the streets widened, Wood said.
Measure V achieves these improvements mainly by adding new turn lanes and in some cases driving lanes.
The work would be at least partly paid for by traffic-impact fees charged to developers.
Major improvements in the plan include new turn lanes at Campus Drive and MacArthur Boulevard, two turn lanes at Newport Boulevard and 32nd Street, and turn and through lanes at Jamboree Road at the Campus Drive and Birch Street intersections.
